Knife lore

[Quixoticgeek]

I've seen now from a number references to a superstition that you should never give someone a knife, but instead exchange it for a silver coin.

Does anyone have any info on the origin of this ?

Thanks

J

 

[boatman]

My Granny said that it was to avoid cutting the friendship, only a penny back in the fifties. Easily back into the nineteenth century

 

[Quixoticgeek]

My Granny said that it was to avoid cutting the friendship, only a penny back in the fifties. Easily back into the nineteenth century

That's how it was explained to me. I've come across it from Swedes, Slovaks, French and Brits so it's certainly widespread. I'm just curious the origin of it.

J

 

[Adze]

+1 boatman... long tradition in my family for exactly the same reason. Always give a knife with a silver coin, so the silver coin can be returned without cost to the person receiving the gift.

 

[ozzy1977]

Probably along the same line as giving a purse with a coin in it.

 

[John Fenna]

I knew it originally as a penny ... but way in the past even pennies were silver!
I once bought a set of scissors and shears (to go to coll to study fashion design ) and the set included a penny so that if the set was given as a gift the coin was already there.
I still have most of the set some 30+ years down the line though I ruined the shears cutting leather.

 

[Duggie Bravo]

A friend of mine was given a Swedish Army knife by a Swedish scout at the jamboree in 2011, he rushed off grabbed a 2007 scout 50p and explained to the scout that you can't accept a knife as a gift and handed over the 50p. I think the Swedish scout believed he got the better deal!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tony]

I think things like this are great, especially as an expression of friendship, it's thoughtful.

I wonder if it actually has prevented issues between people, probably has knowing people

 

[IanM]

In our family you never give any pointed article, needle, knife, scissors, etc. You buy it with a silver coin.

 

[Harvestman]

I've never heard this one. Very interesting.

 

[MartinK9]

Probably invented by the blacksmith to get more cash

 

[John Lee]

Several years ago a retired policeman friend asked me if I had a penny. I pulled one out of my pocket and he handed me a Gerber folder and recited a short phrase about giving a coin for a knife. He did this again a few months later. He was Cherokee Indian and always gave me things, mostly gun related such as range bags and ammunition, books, and a couple of shoulder holsters. Derek died almost two years ago. Must have had a heart attack since he was sitting on a couch with his two dogs beside him. Most interesting man I ever knew. Had been a motorcycle cop, undercover drug cop, parachutist, private pilot license holder and married three times. The women loved him and men admired him.

 

[oldtimer]

My great uncle sold me my first knife for a penny when I was seven, 65 years ago, explaing that to give a knife meant cutting a friendship. As a "shell back" i.e. someone who had sailed round Cape Horn under sail, he knew something about knife-lore and sailors' superstitions. I sold my grandson his first knife last Christmas for a five pence piece. Not a bad rate of inflation. When I bought my wife a knife in France a few years back, the saleswoman told me that the the same custom exists in France.

 

[Tiley]

It seems that this piece of lore applies to knives; is it the same for axes, too?

 

[John Fenna]

Well it does for scissors and shears...

 

[IanM]

Another piece of lore:

Never touch a flame or hot coal with a point or edge.

Makes sense as it would affect the hardness but in my circles it is also taken as bad luck.

 

[Coldfeet]

I have never come across these behaviours before, so it is interesting to read about them.

 

[tsitenha]

We have a similar tradition of giving a small gift for a sharp tool, on a slightly different slant we don't cut bread (banock) it is torn to give a friend or guest. maybe in the same train of thought.

 

[rscornutt]

Hi, everyone. First post. This has been very interesting.

I know it's not the same, but in America it is common to return a knife to the owner as it was lent - if I were to hand you an open folder you would not close it before returning it, and vice versa. It is said to be bad luck to do otherwise.

 

[British Red]

It seems that this piece of lore applies to knives; is it the same for axes, too?

Not come across it with axes - but to use another man's axe is bad form - to use it without permission is grounds for....redress.

On a similar note of luck - it is bad luck to haggle with a weapon smith - for a sword, you paid what was asked.